Baggage-check



(No Model.)

G. M. DRINKER.

v BAGGAGE CHECK.

No. 362,882. Patented May 10. 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT EErcE.

CHARLES MORGAN DRINKER, OF BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

BAGGAGE-CHECK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 362,882, dated May 10,1887.

Application tiled February 1, 1857. Serial No. 226,178. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHAR-LES IVIORGAN DRINKER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Bloomsburg, in the county of Columbia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Baggage-Ghecks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in baggage-checks; and it consistsin a certain novel construction and arrangement of parts for service,fully set forth hereinafter, and specifically pointed out in theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of myimproved check with one of the checks locked in place and the othercheek detached. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same with the rearplate removed to show the mechanism. Fig. 3 is a similar view with onecheck inserted and the spring locking-bolts secured out of engagementwith the other check, which is partly withdrawn from the device. Fig. 4shows a slightlymodified form of the mechanism, requiring adifferently-shaped check to open the device.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar letters denote correspondingparts in all the figures, A designates the body of the check, having thefront plate, B, and the rear plate, G, secured together by the rivets bI), and held a short distance apart by the flange B 011 the rear side ofthe front plate around the edge thereof, said flange being cut away fora short distance at the upper and lower ends of the check to formopenings 1) b to allow the two checks D and E to enter into the interiorof the check to operate the mechanism therein.

The upper edge of the rear plate is extended to form the ear 0, which isbent rearwardly, so that when the check-strap Y is secured in the slitor opening 0 in the said car it will not interfere with the insertion ofone of the checks into the opening Z) in the upper end of the body.

The face or front plate, 13, is provided on the outer edges with theflanges I) I), open at the upper ends and closed at the lower ends, andthe destination-card (made of pasteboard or metal, but preferably ofmetal, as brass) is adapted to be inserted between, with the edgesthereof engaged. in the said flanges, by sliding said card in at thetop. Said destination-card Z is double facedonc side indicating thereturn-trip, or the trip in the reverse direction to that indicated onthe other side.

F F represent spring locking-bolts, pivoted at the points ff, near theouter edge of the body, tothe front plate, and having detentsf f at theupper ends and dctents f f at the lower ends, the inner side of saiddetents be ing square or abrupt, and the outside beveled or rounded tofacilitate the insertion of an article between them. The said pivotedlockingbolts are provided near their centers with theinwardly-projecting arms G G, the inner ends of which are adapted toapproach each other very closely, but do not come in contact. A shortdistance above the arms G are the shortinwardly-projecting armsg 9, alsoformed integrally with the bolts F and having a re ccss or notch, g, inthe inner end on the upper side.

H II are holdingdogs,pivoted at the points 7th, the inner ends of whichcome in contact and are interlocked or articulated to make it impossibleto move one without the other, thus preventing the lock of the checkfrom being picked in detail or one side at a time. The

outer ends of the dogs are adapted to engage in the notches g, as seenin Fig. 3, and hold the upper ends of the locking-bolts apart to allowthe withdrawal of one of the checks from one end of the body. Betweenthe inner ends of the dogs on each side and the inner ends of the arms Gof the same side are placed the ends of the springs I, held in place bysmall projections on the said arms, which springs are adapted tonormally hold the arms G pressed down and the inner ends of the dogspressed up. The tendency, therefore, of the upper ends of thelocking-bolts F is toward the center of the body Or inwardly, and thetendency of the outer ends of the dogs is downwardly, so that when theupper ends of the said lockin g-bolts are pressed apart against theforce of the said springs the outer ends of the dogs will be forced intothe recesses g in the ends of the arms g and lock the bolts apart. If,however,

the upper edges of the inner ends of the dogs .are pushed down uponwhile in the said position, the outer ends of the dogs will be liftedout of the notches or recesses 9 against the action of the springs, andthe upper ends of the locking-bolts F will be again forced toward eachother. To again lock the bolts apart it is only necessary to press theinner ends of the arms Gr upwardly, thus forcing the upper ends of thebolts apart, and the outer ends of the dogs will drop or spring into therecesses g and hold the said bolts in the desired position.

The check Dis made of athin plate of metal having the opening or slitd,in which to secure the free end of the strap Y, and the sides of thesaid plate are provided with the notches D, to be engaged by the detentsf f on the locking-bars,and the lower edge of the plate, below the saidnotches,is rounded to glide over the upper sides of thesaid detents. Anopening or notch, d, is provided in thelower edge of the check D toreceive the rivet or stud b and allow thewings d on either side of thesaid notch to pass down and come in contact with the inner ends of thedogs H.

To look the check D in place in the body when the locking-bolts are heldapart by the dogs, insert the said check D into the opening 1)sutficiently to cause the lower edges of the wings d to press,respectively, on the inner ends of the dogs and lift the-outer endsthereof out of the recesses 9, when the upper ends of the locking-boltsF, being released, will spring toward each other, and the detentsthereon will engage in the notches D in the side edges of the check Dand prevent its withdrawal until the said upper ends of the bolts areagain separated.

The previously-described destination card Z, as has been stated, is heldfrom being withdrawn from the retaining-flange on the faceplate in everyway except by drawing or sliding it upwardly; and to prevent this, andthereby effectually fasten said card in the check when the check D islocked in place, I provide a hookshaped' lug, D", on the face of thesaid check D, to engage over the upper edge of the said card, andthereby prevent the card from being taken out or changed until the checkD is unlocked and withdrawn.

The check E is similarin construction to the check D, and is formed of athin plate of metal having a rounded upper end divided by thenotch 6,similar to the notch (1, into the wings e, the sides of the plate beingprovided with the notches E, to be engaged by the detents' f on thelower ends of the bolts F when the upper ends of the said bolts arelocked apart by thedogs H.

When the check D is locked in place, to unlock and remove it insert thecheck E and press the upper edges of the wings against the ends of thearms G, thus forcing the said ends up and causing the upper ends of thebolts to move apart. \Vhen pressed sufficiently apart, the dogs H willengage in the recesses g and hold the detents f out of engagement withthe notches D, and thus allow the check D to be withdrawn. The check E,on the other hand,

is now locked in the body by the detents f on the lower ends of thebolts F engaging in the notches E in the sides of the said check E. It

above the lower edge of the .other arm.

D is inserted in the opening b in-the upper edge ofthe body it issecurelylocked therein, and the check E is released, this alternatingaction being due to the fact that the engagingdetents f and f 2 aresituated on opposite ends of the lever comprising the locking-bolt.

When the check D is locked in place and the check E is released, thesaid check E is used as a duplicate check to be carried by the party towhom the checked property belongs, and for this purpose it is suppliedwith a corresponding number to that on the body A.

When the device has been removed from the property by the propermanipulation of the proper check, and the latter, as has been stated,

is in turn locked in the body, it is allowed to remain in this positionuntil the device is again secured to an article of baggage, when theinsertion of the check D willrelease the check E.

notches at the same time, and therefore, if

one of the arms G is made wider than the other, so that the lower edgethereof comes below the lower edge of the other arm, it will be seenthat to lift both of the said arms at one time it will be necessary tohave one of the wings e of the checkE projected as far beyond or abovethe otherwing as the lower edge of the corresponding arm G is behind ory varying the thickness of the said arms G, a

ICO

great variety of different locks will be made.

Toproduce still further variety, the stud b, which enters the notchiuthe upper edge of the check E between the wings, may be placed atvarying distancesfrom the arms G of the IIO bolts; also, the size of thesaid stud may be varied; also, there may be additional studs placed atdifferent points in the interior of the check, so as to prevent theinsertion of all except the proper check E. Fig. 4 shows a check havingtwo additional studs. In these and other ways an endless variety ofchecks requiring differently-shaped checks or plates D E may be had, andthus prevent the annoyance and loss due to the changing and losing ofchecks through carelessness and criminal design.

The manner of using these checks is obvious from the above description.

When not in use, the device is put away or hung up with the check Dreleased and the check E locked in the body. When about to be applied toan article, the strap is passed through a convenient loop on saidarticle-as the handle of a trunk -and the check D is inserted in the endof the body and locked there,

check, which is given to the owner of the property.

It is evident that if constructed as herein described the body cannot betaken off of the trunk until the proper check is applied thereto, thusmaking the checking of property safer and preventing much annoyance andloss.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaiin, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a baggagecheck, the body constructed to receive two cheeks andprovided with locking mechanism, in combination with the said two checksto be inserted into the body and actuate the locking mechanism, theinsertion of one check in the body causing the releasing of the othercheck, as set forth.

2. In a baggage-check, the combination of a body having openings,locking mechanism housed within the body, and the two checks adapted tobe inserted in the openings in the body to alternately actuate thelocking Inechanism,one ofsaid checks being normally locked within thebody by the locking mechanism, as and for thepurpose set forth.

3. In a baggage-check, the combination of a bodyhaving the openings, themovable locking-bolts housed within the body, and the two checks adaptedto be inserted into the openings of the body and bet-ween the bolts, oneof said cheeks being normally engaged by the bolt and released therefromwhen the other check is inserted into the body and actuates the bolts,the latter check being in turn locked in the body when the first-namedcheck is released, as and for the purpose described.

at. In a baggage-check, the combination of the body having openings inopposite ends thereof, the movable locking-bolts housed within the body,the springs for normally forcing the bolts toward each other, a checkfitted in one end of the body and looked therein by the bolts, andanother cheek fitted in the opposite end of the body to release thefirstnamed check and be in turn locked in the body by the bolts, as andfor the purpose described.

5. In a baggage-check, the combination of the movable locking-boltsnormally forced toward each other by springs, the articulated dogs forholding the bolts separated, and the two checks adapted to be insertedbetween the locking-bolts at opposite ends thereof, as and for thepurpose described.

6. In a baggage-cheek, the combination of the pivoted locking-boltshaving the inwardlyextending arms G g, the articulated dogs intermediatethe bolts and adapted to engage the shorter arms gthereof, and thesprings engaging the dogs and the arms G of the bolts to normally drawone end of the bolts together and hold the dogs out of engagement withthe arms 9, as and for the purpose described.

7. In a baggage-check, the combination of a body, the pivotedlocking-bolts therein having the extended arms G, the articulated dogs,the springs engaging the dogs and the locking-bolts to normally forceone end thereof together, a check adapted to be inserted into the bodyto press the locking-bolts apart, and another check adapted to beinserted into the opposite end of the body to impinge on the armsthereof, and thereby operate the lockingbolts and the dogs to releasethe first-named cheek and lock the last-named check in the body, as andfor the purpose described.

8. In a baggage-check, the body having the locking mechanism, the checkto be held to the body by locking mechanism, another check to operatethe latter and release the first-named check, the destination-card to befitted to the body and held thereto by the first-named cheek, wherebythe card cannot be withdrawn until the first-named check is released, asset forth.

9. In a baggage'check, a body having looking mechanism housed thereinand with the fixed guides on one of its outer sides, a destination'cardfitted in the guides and thereby exposed to View, and the two cheeksadapted to be inserted in the body to alternately actuate the lockingmechanism, one of said checks having means for locking thedestination-card in the guides, .as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses. I

\ CHARLES MORGAN DRINKER.

\Vitnesses:

J urns MCLosKnY, J OHN J AMESON.

